Rush Limbaugh Show = “Deader than Kelsey’s nuts”
Q: Where does the expression “deader than Kelsey’s nuts” come from and what does it mean?
A: It’s an expression that former US President Richard Nixon was rather fond of using. Like other Americans before and since, he meant by it that something was unquestionably and permanently defunct. You might hear somebody say “The battery’s deader than Kelsey’s nuts”, or “His chances of surviving the election are deader than Kelsey’s nuts”.
I remember the saying, and have often used it, as “Deader than Kelso’s nuts.” Kelso, one of the best thoroughbred horses of the 20th century, was a gelding hence the expression.
I have however heard the term “Tighter than Kelsey’s nuts” thrown around garages and shops referring to mechanical nuts and bolts that have been well torqued down.